The present inventions relate to interactive television, and to the display on a television screen of video and other content communicated over the Internet.
Interactive television (iTV) is television or video programming that incorporates interactivity. Interactive television is used as an umbrella term for the convergence of television with digital media technologies including Internet communications. Television and Internet content are viewed over similar display devices, but have profound differences. The Internet represents a two-way medium that carries largely static content based upon point-to-point distribution. Television remains primarily a one-way medium with dynamic content distributed in point-to-multipoint methods. Interactive television can be considered a combination of these systems, including certain features of each system in a hybrid medium. Interactive television combines the rich, dynamic content of television with the personalization and responsiveness of the Internet.
Internet and television may be merged by simply putting Internet content on a television screen, or conversely by viewing television content on a computer. The latter process is more easily accomplished, and is in widespread use. With proper hardware television programs and other video content can be successfully viewed on a personal computer screen. On the other hand, putting Web page from a computer browser directly on a television screen is generally not satisfactory to the user. Web content is typically viewed by a single user in close proximity to a personal computer screen, sometimes called the “one foot experience”. The personal computer user interface can be called “lean forward”, signifying an interactive experience with users who are actively engaged with activities on the screen. Conversely, television content is viewed at far greater distances, sometimes called the “ten foot experience”. Traditional user interaction with television can be called “lean back”, signifying users who are passive consumers of content. Adapting the personal computer user interface to the ten foot experience poses serious challenges in the visual interface design, and in the use of input devices for user interaction with the iTV. The present inventions address both of these challenges.
In the ten foot experience, normal Web fonts and graphics are typically too small to be comfortably viewed. In addition, whereas computer screens usually have a cursor to visually indicate the user's location on the screen, on TVs other than HDTVs cursors were difficult to locate. A possible solution for ITV systems is to trans-code Web page content on a specialized server for more appropriate display on a television screen, or on a client receiver or combination server-client process. For example, trans-codings may include larger-size font substitutions, and substitution for larger sized graphics with more apparent details. However, most companies are not prepared to spend the time or money to go through this effort.
One of the challenges in designing interactive television for the ten foot experience has been planning user input to the iTV. It is difficult to interact with traditional web pages using input devices typically associated with television. Navigation and typing are particularly difficult with infrared remote controls or a virtual keyboard rather than a mouse and real keyboard. The use of a remote control limits the traditional navigational model to a single dimension at a time (top-down or left-right). In addition, it is difficult for a user to select hyperlinks using infrared remotes. As a result, the user would sequence among links e.g. using arrow keys, and then press a “Go”, OK or “Enter” key on the remote to switch a display to the linked page. Alphanumeric input has also been cumbersome using TV remotes, typically requiring entry of characters one-by-one using an alphanumeric menu. In summary, the use of a handheld TV remote for iTV navigation is awkward in comparison to a computer mouse and real keyboard located in fixed positions on a desk or table, which provide fast homing times and efficient alphanumeric input. However, for the ten foot experience the objective is to provide user input using a handheld device, not a device located on a desk or table.
A type of handheld input device that affords additional degrees of control is an inertial pointing device, such as a 3D pointing device. Inertial pointing devices use a tuning fork or other accelerometer to detect movement for every axis supported by the device. 3D pointing devices can determine device orientation as well as direction of movement in three (or more) dimensions. When used in connection with a television or computer display, 3D pointing devices move in the air in front of a display screen, and the user interface translates those motions directly into user interface commands, e.g., movement of a cursor on the display screen.
One of the most popular applications of iTV is distribution of video and audio content. Whereas traditional television relies on broadcast (content push) programming model, iTV relies on a library (content pull) programming model. iTV programming addresses viewers' desire to have control over their viewing experiences, for example to watch what they want when they want, and to be able to time-shift through media. The iTV user interface also can cater to an extended range of user interests, including not only the traditional TV function of entertainment but also for example shopping (ecommerce), widgets, social networking and education. A well-designed iTV user interface should facilitate user control over entertainment programming as well as access to content in other areas of interest, using a simple, logical and efficient framework.